The who's who of the almost Doctor Whos

Reports that actors Bill Nighy and Idris Elba turned down the sci-fi role opens up the question: who might have been Doctor Who?

So, who's Who? That depends on your perspective, but as fans celebrate the appointment of actor Peter Capaldi to the role of the 12th incarnation of Doctor Who, comes news that another actor, Bill Nighy, turned the role down.

Recent reports also suggest that Idris Elba, the star of British drama series Luther and sci-fi blockbuster Pacific Rim, also turned down the role.

Bill Nighy turned down the role of the Doctor in Doctor Who.Credit:Edwina Pickles

When Nighy was asked about the role, he replied by saying: "I won't tell you when because the rule is that you are not allowed to say you turned that job down because it's disrespectful to whoever did it.

"I will say that I was approached. But I didn't want to be the Doctor. No disrespect to Doctor Who or anything, I just think that it comes with too much baggage." Nighy had only positive words for Capaldi, who won the role.

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"He's a marvellous actor," Nighy said. "He'll be very good as the Doctor. He'll bring a lot of wit and dry humour. He's elegant and he looks great."

But the two stories open a can of worms, a world of potential Doctors and an honour roll of actors who might have inhabited the role of the iconic time traveller, or did, but in very unusual circumstances.

According to the history books, there are now 12 Doctor Whos, beginning with William Hartnell in 1963. Hartnell won the role only after a number of actors were considered, including Geoffrey Bayldon, Alan Webb and Leslie French.

Rupert Davies, Valentine Dyall and Michael Hordern turned down the role of the second Doctor, which eventually went to Patrick Troughton. And Ron Moody said no to playing the third, a role which went to Jon Pertwee.

Graham Crowden and Bernard Cribbins are said to have been considered for the fourth Doctor, a role which went to Tom Baker, an actor many fans consider to be the "definitive" Doctor Who.

Paul McGann, who won the role of the eighth Doctor - the star of the US telemovie pilot and the doctor whose on-screen tenure was the briefest - beat out his own brother Mark McGann and other actors including Anthony Head, Rowan Aktinson and Tim McInnerny for the role.

Which brings us to the pressing question: who might have been Doctor Who? Here are a dozen Doctor Whos who were seen on screen, but weren't necessarily considered "official" Doctors.

Peter Cushing: Best known as the star of many Hammer horror films and for the role of Grand Moff Tarkin in the iconic Star Wars franchise, Cushing played an Earth-born Doctor Who in two movies released in 1965 and 1966, Dr Who and the Daleks and Daleks: Invasion Earth 2150AD.

Edmund Warwick: Warwick played the first Doctor in the serial The Chase, when an android replica of the Doctor was sent by the Daleks to capture and kill his companions. Warwick provided the body for the robot double, but Hartnell, the first Doctor, provided the voice.

Trevor Martin: Martin played the Doctor in a 1974 British stage production, The Seven Keys to Doomsday, which featured an opening sequence in which Petwee's Doctor "regenerated" into Martin's. For that reason he is considered an "alternative" fourth Doctor.

Adrian Gibbs: In the final days of the fourth Doctor's life, a mysterious figure – The Watcher – was shadowing him. Played by Gibbs, The Watcher was a manifestation of the Doctor's future self, nudging events along towards the fourth Doctor's regeneration into the fifth.

Michael Jayston: Jayston appeared in the 1986 serial The Trial of a Time Lord, playing the Valeyard, the prosecutor of the Doctor on trial. Valeyard was later unmasked as an evil future Doctor from between his "12th and final incarnations", who was behind a plot to kill the sixth Doctor and claim his remaining regenerations.

Rowan Atkinson: Best known as TV's Mr Bean, Atkinson played the Doctor in charity fund-raising special The Curse of the Fatal Death, organised for the British Red Nose Day charity. His companion, Emma, was played by Absolutely Fabulous star Julia Sawalha.

Richard E. Grant: As The Curse of the Fatal Death reached its denouement, the Doctor was killed by the Daleks and regenerated into a handsome, sexually confident new incarnation, played by Grant. Grant later reprised this Doctor in a one-off animated special, The Scream of the Shalka.

Jim Broadbent, Hugh Grant and Joanna Lumley: After Grant's Doctor is electrocuted in The Curse of the Fatal Death, he regenerates in quick succession three times into Broadbent, Grant and finally Lumley. Lumley's appearance marks the first time on TV the Doctor had been played by a woman.

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Richard Hurndall: The 20th anniversary TV special, The Five Doctors, was produced in 1983 and was to feature all (then) five Doctor Whos. As the first Doctor, Hartnell, had died, his role was played in the special by Richard Hurndall, who was paired with Susan (Carole Ann Ford), the Doctor's granddaughter.

David Morrissey: In the 2008 Christmas special, The Next Doctor, a human man, Jackson Lake, inadvertently absorbs an "infostamp" containing a biography of the Doctor and, for a time, believes he is the real deal: complete with analog screwdriver and hot-air balloon TARDIS.